Work off that Civvy Street flab with the help of drill sergeants

British Military Fitness: My Fitness Instructor US$4.99 Rating 10/10

To shed the final kilo or so in the last three weeks before my beach holiday, I needed to increase the tempo of my exercise regime. Something hard-core and military seemed the best approach.

Navy SEAL Fitness was the first app I considered, since US Navy SEALs are renowned for being super-fit. But judging from the App Store write-up, I thought the app was nothing more than a comprehensive manual.

Para Fitness looked more promising, with photos and daily routines, but it was missing the vital ingredient: live instruction. I would be lucky to get my heart rate up at all if I had to stop after every exercise to check what came next.

Third time lucky: My Fitness Instructor proved to be the drill sergeant I was looking for. In fact, I have a choice of Mark Donaldson, a former Royal Marines physical training instructor, or Jim Preece, who honed his instructional style in the Australian Parachute Regiment.

To track your progress, first measure your current fitness through a test of push-ups, sit-ups and a bleep test (a multi-stage, 20-metre-run test). All this is clearly explained, so don't worry.